Melanie (Jane) Bradley

There is always confusion with my name as I have never been called by my first name - Melanie, but have always been known by my second name - Jane. It has been the bane of my life! Please call me Jane!

I am a psychotherapist and have worked in Mental Health Services within the NHS for 24 years. I am an accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) Practitioner and an accredited CAT Supervisor (for further information on CAT go to:- www.acat.me.uk.) I am also an accredited Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT) Practitioner. I am HCPC registered and a member of ACAT.

Whilst I have been a psychotherapist for the past 13 years, I began my career in the NHS after completing my BSc (hons) in Occupational Therapy and worked in Mental Health Services. Here I specialised on a 1.1 basis and in group settings, on developing client’s self-esteem, assertiveness skills, anxiety/stress management skills. From my OT training I think of people holistically that is linking mind and body and treating the whole person as well as acknowledging that we all need meaning and purpose in our lives which can so often get skewed in today’s busy, competitive world. Relationships are a big part of this, not only relationships with others but the relationship we have with ourselves. When our relationships are problematic we can end up feeling critical of ourselves, having low self-esteem, feeling depressed, anxious, angry and frustrated with ourselves and others. We can cope by striving to be perfect, or trying to please others, not being assertive, fearing rejection and not feeling 'good enough'. After working as an OT for 7 years and wanting to develop my skills further I completed my 3 year training to become a Cognitive Analytic Therapy Practitioner. My CAT training gave me the skills to develop an understanding of why we have these difficulties, where they originate from and how as a result, we often develop coping mechanisms that actually don’t help, but instead keep us stuck in behaviours that maintain our distress.

How therapy can help.

Therapy can help because after our initial meeting we will spend some time talking more about your current difficulties and think about how these may link with difficulties that may have been there for some time. We may think about your early life experiences and relationships and build up an understanding how all of these link up to your current struggles. As we progress through therapy using your words, I will map out on a whiteboard relational patterns, difficult feelings and patterns (strategies) that you have used to cope. We call this your CAT 'map'.  An example of these patterns might be if we have always been be very critical of ourselves and in order to feel good enough we strive to be perfect, but because we are critical of ourselves, nothing ever feels good enough thus we remain stuck in feeling 'not good enough'. The relational pattern here is one of being 'critical' leaving us feeling 'criticised, not good enough'. The coping pattern is 'striving to be perfect'. Therapy will help us to identify these patterns, understand where they came from and together think about how to make changes to these patterns thus reducing your distress and struggles. The remaining sessions will be used to think in detail about what has gone on for you between sessions, recognising where you might have been on your CAT map, recognising the patterns you might have got pulled into and focussing on how to incorporate the changes we have identified which in CAT we call 'Exit' strategies. This way therapy helps you recognise and revise patterns in your day to day life whilst testing out your Exit strategies. I hope this all makes sense but believe me, many clients have those light bulb moments when they see their CAT map outlining their current difficulties so clearly.

CAT can therefore help to increase our understanding of ourselves, increase our self-awareness, help us to develop healthy relationships with others and with ourselves. CAT can help us be more assertive, have clearer boundaries and most importantly help us to change problematic patterns that have caused us distress. I will work with you drawing on all my skills to help you find solutions to your difficulties using the framework of CAT.

What can I expect from the first session?

In the first session we will think about your current difficulties and how long they have been causing you distress. We will think about how they affect your life on a day to day basis. I will explain to you in more detail how CAT works and what it will involve. We will also think together about how many sessions you will need. CAT is a collaborative therapy - it is about you and I working side by side. Therefore a trusting, safe relationship is paramount to the process and I will do everything I can to provide this so that you feel listened to, heard and understood.

How many sessions will I need?

CAT is a time limited therapy and can range from 4 sessions to 24 sessions dependent on your needs. Follow-up sessions are usually offered after a few weeks of therapy ending, to check in with you and see how you are doing.
 
I now work in the lovely market town of Helmsley in North Yorkshire at The Bay Clinic Natural Health Centre on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I offer online therapy if preferred.  

I completely understand that sharing your difficulties may feel daunting. I have experience and skills to listen, help you make sense of things and find solutions to your difficulties at a pace that you feel comfortable with. Thank you for reading my profile.

My fees are £60 per session 

I offer an introductory 30 minute telephone session so that we can chat about how therapy might help you, for which there is no charge. 

It can be daunting to admit that we are struggling and need help, but rest assured that we all struggle at times and I understand how difficult this must have been to reach this point. I am here to listen and work alongside you using my skills and your experiences so that together we can try and find a path out of your difficulties.